I decided to buy a Roady XT friday evening and just threw it in the car with no mount or anything so I could listen to it on the way to the bowling alley with the guys. I put the antenna up on the dash, thinking it would suffice, as many people on NASIOC have done so and claimed good results. Well, those people must never go downhill or drive next to a mountain. It cut in and out everytime I'd go down an incline or if there were trees on either side of the road. I quickly recognized the need for a change.
I worked overtime the following day at a slow station (my favorite one), but my medic had called the supervisor and told him he'd be late, as he was responding to a structure fire for his fire department. This is excuseable by law, so no biggy. I was running BLS first response for the first 3 hrs of my shift, so I figured I'd go ahead and attack this little problem.
I started by looking at how noticeable the antenna would be on my roof. I got it as close as possible to the rear windshield trim and stepped back. The magnetic antenna included with the reciever was actually pretty small and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.
(Pardon the junkie spare ambulance. The previous crew got a flat tire, so they had to trade into that piece of crap)
Once I had decided that the antenna wasn't overly obtrusive, I went to looking for a way to hide the wire without drilling. I noticed a space between the trim piece and rubber surround on my rear windshield. It's barely big enough for the wire to fit into, and I actually had to use my dog tags to get it into the space, but it worked, keeping the wire tucked away just snugly enough to keep it from flying out on the interstate. Thankfully, it also keeps it from being seen and looking ghetto. (As a disclaimer, the rear windshield has been removed and replaced in my car as a result of being rear ended, so this may not be the same on your car)
This is where you can obviously drill if you want to. I didn't want to. I ran the wire from the windshield across the trunk seal. I cleaned the rubber and surrounding area with some rubbing alcohol (it's what I had at hand) and then used some electrical tape to hold the wire in place, plus give it some protection from any friction it may incure from opening and closing the trunk. As long as you park with the trunk downhill, this shouldn't be a problem.
I then ran the wire under the rear deck and down behind the seats. Remove the bottom part of your rear seat with a 12mm ratchet. Lift up on the front part and it should slide out. Remove the trim pieces on the passenger's side just as if you were running a set of RCAs for an amp. Run the wire to the front of the car under the carpet. In the front passenger's side floor, you will have to remove two plastic caps that screw down onto studs mounted to the floor board. This will allow you to peel back the carpet and run the wire up into the dash. Remove the trim pieces around the HVAC as usual. You'll be able to see down to the floorboard on the passenger's side. Run a stick or something as such (I used a piece of really stiff, heavy gauge wire, as it was just laying around) to reach down from the top, to the floorboard. This will allow you to tie the antenna lead to it and pull it back through. Major PITA saver. This picture shows the reciever mounted and where my antenna lead comes out. I used the vent mount for the time being (you'll have to remove the pivoting part and attach it to the second slat from the bottom), but I plan or ordering the vehicle specific bracket from crutchfield when I get my new headunit (see crutchfield.com).
And here are some nighttime pictures of the finished install:
The Roady XT is pretty nice. Very small and light, but feature packed (the color selectable screen is nice, although the buttons stay white). The only thing I wish it had was a 3 line display so that you could display the Station, Artist, and Song Title all at once.
Also, the FM Transmitter is built in, which is nice. It doesn't deliver the best sound quality however. I plan on buying an audio jack-to-RCA converter so that I can use the auxilary input on my new headunit when I get it. When I put the headunit in, I also plan on hardwiring the power wire to wires leading to the cigarette lighter (I've sacraficed my radar detector for now, but I dunno if I'm even going back to it).
And another note/reminder: be sure to have your reciever on when you activate it (I did so online). If it isn't on, it won't recieve the activation signal and you'll have to have another activation signal sent (free of charge). Mine activated immediately, although the instruction manual says you may wait up 15-20 minutes.
Overall, for the reciever price ($50 for this one after $30 mail in rebate), $12/month, and a one time $10 activation fee, this is very much worth it. If you like music, you'll love satallite radio. Happy modding.
Reply With Quote
